As a coach and trainer to 100’s of executives, many times people ask, “will this help me?” They are trying to compare the cost of my coaching with the return on their investment through the impact on their organization. Change is behavioral and a detailed roadmap for that success is paramount. I was a collegiate athlete and most recently a national sports competitor: to play at that level there is a process. I have worked that process with discipline over the past 20 years.
When you look at a professional athlete, they have their coach, and they also have specialized coaches who design subtle changes in diet, exercise, mental, and specific sports related techniques. What I have found in my 20 years of coaching is what most seasoned executives know all too well: the power of goal setting and setting objectives. A strong Executive coach can help you reach a higher level of performance. I hear from countless Executives that it is lonely at the top, and most high performing executives are dealing in uncharted territory. Three quick reasons why you may be facing some pitfalls.
First, goals are not specific enough. One of the pitfalls that athletes as well as executives make is that they focus on the end game and high-level objectives that correlate with winning. Most think in generalities, that within a window of time they want to move into a position and have more responsibility. When they use the same strategy of thinking to plan their own personal development, it ends with frustration. They then realize that they have not really moved forward in their personal and professional development, and they are passed up for promotions. In athletics and in business it is easy to think about winning all the time and have that mentality at the center of everything. This is a crucial part of big picture thinking and should not be discounted, but when setting goals you need to be more specific. A great planned strategy begins with focusing on the individual action items that will get you to the end goal. Continuous feedback is given so that the steps are done consistently. You cannot achieve the highest level of personal development by just setting an objective and checking on it in six months. A strong coach can help you to create an actionable change and hold you accountable.
Secondly, is not having confidence in the process. Executives have a lot of confidence when in front of groups or when they have vast knowledge of a topic. The high performing Executives that I work with have this type of real confidence when no one is around, and they are surrounded in the unknown. You can achieve a great deal of confidence when you believe in the process, follow it religiously, and obtain help of a skilled coach. Having confidence in the process takes the fear of the unknown away and allows for the greatest improvement. Research indicates that there must be intentional and specific details within the process of change that provides all the growth. Too often athletes and business leaders think about the result and forget the details of how to get there. Athletes think about winning but when they are in competition, it is about relying on their training and focusing on the process of the task that they are faced with. Therefore, elite athletes develop pre-shot routines or processes they follow in any athletic competition. This allows them to take the emotion out of it and focus on what needs to be done to be successful. This may also be applied to personal and professional growth. Understanding that the discipline to the process not only allows for more consistency but gives the executive or athlete immediate feedback on the performance that drives the result, no just the end result.
Lastly, understand that the process is not always enjoyable. Executives tend to think in terms of the larger picture with where they want their careers to go and what activities that they think will get them there. When it comes to their personal development it is important to think big picture on where they want to be but in terms of getting there, but realize the task is not always fun. Being able to complete a plan, carry through with the details of that plan no matter how uncomfortable it is, will separate the high performers from the average performers. In my experience the task that one will complete in their personal development to move to a higher level will not very often be the most pleasant and you will have to be held accountable for the measured results. I have found that most of the people that I coached that rose to higher positions, did the task we laid out with great discipline. They rarely were the best at everything, but they became masters of the area that were important for the organization. This separated them from their competitors inside and outside of the marketplace.
Even the best golfers in the world have swing coaches and with an acute eye can spot what seems like small subtle changes and then hold them accountable. The competition is so fierce at the top and a two-stroke scoring average is the difference between being the top golfer in the world versus number 104 and a name you don’t know. In business I have found that what is holding one back could be so subtle that they don’t even know to make the change. If you only stare out the front windshield looking down the road and pay attention nothing else, don’t be surprised when you run out of gas.
